1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program recording reservation system for making a recording reservation for a broadcast program and to a remote controller for making a program recording reservation therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as a result of the advancement of information technology, a technology has come to be used in which a plurality of electronic apparatuses in a house are interconnected with one another over a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), so that information is shared and managed among the electronic apparatuses.
As recording apparatuses capable of recording television broadcasts, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) recorders, which are large-capacity recording media, have been put into practical use. Since the recording capacity of an HDD recorder is as much as several hundred gigabytes, it is possible to record programs for a long duration. Furthermore, since HDD recorders have superior random search performance, they have become widely used in homes.
A network-connected HDD recorder has received an electronic program guide (EPG) and can display the broadcast station of a program, a broadcast time, excerpts of content, and the like from among the program information obtained from the EPG on the screen of a television receiver connected to the HDD recorder. A system has been provided in which a user is able to make reservations for video recording and sound recording in a recording apparatus, such as an HDD recorder that is incorporated in the television receiver or that is externally connected, by selecting a program from the displayed program table. As a result of using a electronic program guide in the manner described above, it has become possible to easily make recording reservations of programs without performing complex operations.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1999-136646 (FIG. 2), an apparatus for providing video and audio signals of a desired channel is disclosed.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-129289 (FIG. 1), there is disclosed an apparatus for obtaining information of a desired video signal that is transmitted before the video signal is received and for enabling advance detection of capability or incapability of recording and advance identification by a program table profile and level information.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-244372 (FIG. 1), there is disclosed a technology for performing a reservation recording setting operation by coordinating operations of information processing apparatuses having a program recording reservation function, which are connected over a network.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-244576 (FIG. 1), there is disclosed a technology for performing a program recording reservation operation in each of a plurality of apparatuses set in separate locations by suitably coordinating operations among two or more information processing apparatuses.